WRITING
There’s a lot packed into this small, punchy piece…Daniel Neer, the librettist, can be commended for writing text that mostly manages not to be fatuous about subjects that are tricky to condense meaningfully, even when flirting with cliched situations…Opera doesn’t need to be obviously relevant to be important. But when one does take on a particularly topical subject, it’s nice to see it doing it justice.” —The Washington Post
Daniel Neer is a librettist, lyricist, playwright and poet with interests ranging from vocal chamber music, art song and choral projects to music-theater, contemporary opera, multimedia and interdisciplinary works. His libretti and opera collaborations have been premiered at American Opera Projects, Experiments in Opera, UrbanArias, Opera Birmingham, Long Leaf Opera Festival, and Adelphi University. His lyrics for new vocal chamber music works and art songs have been premiered at Queens New Music Festival, Bar Harbor Music Festival, Two Sides Sounding, Yale University, Brooklyn BEAT Festival, Phoenix Festival, and in collaboration with Ensemble Pi, Qube String Quartet, and the Camarata Trio.
DACHAU FOR QUEERS
A libretto for an Opera In Development with composer Alon Nechustan.
A new American opera based on the controversial incarceration and treatment of gay men at California's Atascadero Correctional Facility during the 1960's.
THE BARBED WIRE WALTZ
A libretto for an Operetta inspired by the music of Robert Stolz
An original book and libretto celebrating the brilliant music of Robert Stolz, and the beauty of Viennese Operetta set during the Anschluss and the onset of WWII.